|
|
UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs |
IRAQ: Focus on training the new army
KIRKUSH, 17 September 2003 (IRIN) - An Iraqi soldier stands in a foxhole in a firing range, pointing his AK-47 rifle at the paper target about 100 metres away. Little puffs of dirt fly up as the soldier fires away at the cutout of a male head and shoulders. A trainer standing next to him gives him some instructions, and he starts again.
His is just one of 730 faces of the new Iraqi Army, 86 percent of whom are members of the old Iraq Army, including some who fired at US-led coalition troops just five months ago. Now, coalition troops are training the men as fast as they can in new procedures and techniques to try and improve security in the country.
"The new forces will be under the command of a coalition commander to start with, but should some day soon be available for international peacekeeping missions led by the United Nations," Brigadier Jonathon Riley, told IRIN at Kirkush barracks, some 90 km northeast of Baghdad, and 20 km from the Iranian border.
The trainers come from a private company contracted by coalition forces. Recruits heard about the training from TV and radio advertisements. They will be paid US $70 per month as privates (the former salary was about US $3 per month) and officer cadets will receive US $100 per month while training.
“What we hope, in the longer term, is that Iraq will take its place in international structures and take its place in peacekeeping missions - just like other nations around the world,” Riley added confidently.
But the first major task facing these new recruits is the daunting one of keeping peace in their own country. Some soldiers are not sure if they’re ready to take on the deteriorating security environment in Iraq just yet, or in any other country for that matter. Many declined to be interviewed in fear of retaliation against their relatives by members of the former Baath party, which wielded enormous power under ousted president Saddam Hussein.
“Some of the soldiers did not wish to be interviewed on camera because of danger to their family, or hostility to them or their family,” Staff Sgt. Johnny Monds, originally from Fort Worth, Texas, USA, told IRIN. “We’re still in a hostile environment here,” he stressed.
But many others say they want to be part of the new military so that Iraq can defend its borders and have a good reputation in the region. An estimated 9,000 troops will be trained by the end of the year to be a motorized rifle battalion, possibly with armoured vehicles.
“I want to be part of the new power structure, to build stability in Iraq, 29 year-old Khalib Taher, told IRIN as he took a break from a war game that involved taking over a bunker from two enemy soldiers. “I’m learning how to express myself freely and volunteer with my own will.”
Volunteering is an important part of the new army training. Officers will be chosen based on “leadership capabilities,” coalition officials said. Former Iraqi army leaders loyal to Saddam Hussein are not allowed to join the new army. Former low-ranking officers can join, but they will be promoted on merit, according to Riley. "In the old army, having rank was about privilege. In the new army, it’s about duty and responsibility,” he stressed.
Letta Safa, a 37 year-old former platoon sergeant, served in the old Iraq army for 17 years. He said his platoon stayed at home when coalition forces invaded Iraq rather than fight a lopsided battle. He was willing for now to work within the new system, but as he sits in a classroom to learn about military ethics, he looked worried as he contemplated his future in the new force. “I don’t know what will happen to my rank,” Safa told IRIN. “I know how any honest Iraqi soldier feels - we should get our ranks back.”
Others see the new army as helping to bridge gaps from the past. "Under the new army training, soldiers work as a team," Nizar Salem, from Mosul in northern Iraq, told IRIN.
Officer candidates are being chosen from the ranks. Even the commander will be chosen from the men currently training on the ground, according to Maj Chad Hedleston, a member of the Coalition Military Assistance Training Team working with the new recruits.
Salem’s colleague, 19-year-old Ali Tawfik Abbas, is quick to point out how the old army differs from the new army. He said that soldiers were assaulted by their trainers and insulted in the old army and that there was often no water for soldiers to drink in the 45 degrees centigrade summer heat. Punishment could include standing in a barrel of water overnight.
“I suffered so much in the old army. Now, I want a chance to protect the borders or eliminate terrorists,” he told IRIN. “We want to turn a new page for the army.”
Troop recruitment also appears to reflect Iraq’s religious diversity. So far 60 percent of the new troops are from the majority Shi'ite population, 25 percent are Sunni - like Saddam Hussein - 10 percent are Kurds, mostly from northern Iraq, and five percent come from the other ethnic groups, including Turkomen and Assyrian Christians.
Former Kurdish peshmerga fighters, who fought against the Saddam Hussein regime are now training alongside their erstwhile adversaries. "Saddam’s ideas were wrong, not the people," Barzan Ibrahim, who was a peshmerga for five years, told IRIN. “We are one Iraq now, and we must depend on the Iraqi army as a whole.”
Theme(s): (IRIN) Conflict, (IRIN) Governance, (IRIN) Human Rights, (IRIN) Natural Disasters
[ENDS]
This material comes to you via IRIN, a UN humanitarian information unit, but may not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations or its agencies. If you re-print, copy, archive or re-post this item, please retain this credit and disclaimer. Quotations or extracts should include attribution to the original sources. All materials copyright © UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs 2003
|
NEWSLETTER
|
| Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list |
|
|
|
